Image by Denise Jans

Dutch Remote Gaming Act Implementation Put Off for Another Month

Article by : Helen Feb 1, 2021

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Both potential Dutch online casino licensees and their future customers will have to strap in for another month of waiting. The Remote Gaming Act (Koa) that was previously supposed to enter into force on March 1, 2021, is now officially put off until April 1, as announced by Sander Dekker, Minister for Legal Protection of the Netherlands.

This is not the first time the Remote Gaming Act’s entry into force has been postponed. The law was passed in February 2019 with January 1, 2021, set as the date it was supposed to come into effect. But in September 2020, the initial implementation date was postponed until March 1, 2021.

Once the Remote Gaming Act comes into effect, the state regulator, the Gaming Authority (Kansspelautoriteit), will launch the application process for handing out the online gambling licenses to eligible businesses.

The launch of the market itself is set to happen six months after the law enters into force. Initially planned for September 1, 2021, we should now expect it to get going on October 1, based on the new timeline.

But this is not the only change the enactment of the Remote Gaming Act will bring. The overall goal of the act is wider than that: it is also meant “to prevent gambling addiction, to combat gambling-related fraud and crime and to protect players.”

One of the innovations introduced in the law is the self-exclusion system CRUKS – the Central Register of Exclusion for players who have gambling issues. It will be launched together with the online casino market opening on October 1. The CRUKS system’s development is undergoing but is certainly nearing the finish line. On December 14, the Gaming Authority opened up a CRUKS test environment for the casino licensees to check their connection and give their feedback on the system.

Other, stricter regulations on gambling-related advertising and addiction prevention will also come into effect at the same time as this piece of legislation, on April 1 (that is provided the date won’t be pushed back again). Furthermore, the licensees will have to start paying to the newly established addiction prevention fund. The fund will be set up for financing three goals: “research, anonymous treatment of gambling addiction and the establishment of a national prevention counter.”

With the new law, the Gaming Authority will get more tools in their law enforcement toolbox, such as going undercover as ‘mystery players’ to pinpoint illegal activities and issuing “binding instructions” to ensure the laws are being followed.

The state regulator has set an ambitious aim for the whole project of online casino legalization – it wants 80% of players opting for a licensed online casino. The Gaming Authority has also recently published its ‘Market vision for games of chance. Market organization and market surveillance based on public interests’ guidebook for policymakers.

According to it, “there may be more room in the future for new providers of games of chance,” as opposed to the current legal monopolies present in the Dutch casino market. Another cornerstone of the guidebook postulates that “in order to prevent gambling addiction as much as possible, to protect consumers and to combat crime and illegality, regulation of the various gambling sectors remains necessary.”